Kolkata: On the occasion of Akshay Urja Divas or National Renewable Energy Day, SwitchON Foundation announced to launch the Strengthening Energy Water and Agriculture (SEWA) Network, a network of grassroot organisations working in these domains to create an ecosystem for the promotion of solar pump, micro irrigation, ground water recharge and other sustainable agricultural practices in Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
70% of India’s population depends on agriculture, who are currently threatened by adverse impacts of climate Change and natural resource depletion causing decline in agriculture incomes. The keynote speaker at the event was S. Suresh Kumar, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Power, Government of West Bengal. He emphasised on the promotion of solar pumps in agriculture, lowering the dependency on fossil fuel and grid power at the tail-end.
Through the SEWA network, the members will collaboratively raise funding to seed projects,…